Weatherproof electric wire



- Nov. 23, 1943. R, w. SHOEMAKER WEATHERPROOF ELECTRIC WIRE Filed Oct,30, 194;

Patented Nov.

wna'rnsmoor merino Wina melma w. :shot-maker, Woodbury. conn., sssignorto Chase Brass lb Copper Co. Incorporated, Waterbury Conn., acorporation muestran october so. 1941, serial No. 411,060

V 1 claim. (Cl. v17a- 124) The present invention 'relates toimprovements in electric conductors and relates more particularly toimprovements in electric conductors employed out of doors mainly forurban distributing lines and for service lines to individual homes,

veniently be composed of rubber, synthetic resins, etc.

The inner braided covering I2 comprises a plurality of parallelright-hand tape-like bands etc. Suchpipes .or wires are commonlyreferred l to as weatherproof" wires.

When exposed to the weather over a consider-` able perlod of time.ordinary lso-called weatherproof wires are subject to having. theircoverings deteriorate under the combined inuences of sunshine, moisture,changes in temperature. etc.

The deterioration of the covering is usually not uniform throughout thelength of the conductor but is 'apt to be spotty with the result thatthe covering material breaks away at various points while remaininganchored fat other points, `and thus forms an unsightly series ofstrings and depending loops commonly referred to ,as festoona One o'fthe main objects oi' the present invention is to provide a superiorweatherproof elec-- Withv the above and other objects in view, as willappear to those skilled in the art from thepresent disclosure, thisinvention includes all features inv the said disclosure which are novelover the prior art and which are not claimed in any separateapplication. Y

In the accompanying drawing, in which certain modes of ciatrrying outthe present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a broken' view -in side elevation of a.l

weatherproof electric wire embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is`a 'transverse sectional view thereoftaken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1. The particular weatherproof electric wire herein chosen forpurposes of illustrating the A present invention, comprises a metalliccore i0, a tubular insulating-body II-an intermediate layer ci braidedcovering I2 and an outer layer' oi braided 'covering Il. The core It maybe formed of any suitable high eleetroaconductive material such ascopper, aluminum, etc., while the insulation II, when employed, mayconofA use and exposure tothe ele-v bands I4 extending helically in aright-hand direction around the insulating-body- I I. The inner braidedcovering I2 also includes a plurality of parallel left-hand tape-likebands II which ex- -tend helically in a left-hand direction around inthe insulating-body II.

Both the right-hand bands Il and ,the lefthand bands I5 of the innerbraided covering I2 are preferably each composed of a group ofindividual laterally-abutting strands Il which may be convenientlyformed of cotton or other suitable textile material. The said strands Ilci' the right-hand bands Il are jointly alternately braided over andunder the groupsof similar strands I6 making up the left-hand bands I6,in a manner'well known inthe braiding art.

The outer braided covering Il is, as shown, composed of a series oftape-like right-hand I1 extending in parallelism helically around theinner braided covering I2 in a righthand direction. The outer braidedcovering also `includes a plurality of tape-like left-hand bands I8extending around the inner braided covering I2 in a helical pathilefthand) in a direction opposite the helical path of the bands jil beforereferred to. Each of the right-hand helical bands lI'l alternatelyextends under and over alternate ones of the contiguous andoppositely-inclined left-hand bands I8, as is apparent from Fig. l.`

-In the instance illustrated in the accompanying drawing. the right-handtape-like bands Il of the outer braided covering I3 are .composed cfaplu- 'rality of strands arranged vside by side. Each right-hand bandI'I includes a retaining-strand Il of glass and a plurality of strands2li preferably composed of cotton, synthetic materials or otherstrandsof textile materials other than` glass. f'

Similarly, each of the parallel `left-hand bands Il of the outer braidedcovering I3 includes a retaining-strandfli formed oi glass and aplurality of parallel companion strands 22 formed of cot'- ton or othernon-glass textile material.

From the foregoing and by referencev to the accompanying drawing. itwill be seen that the glass retaining-strands Il and 2| of therespective bands I'I and I8 extend transversely across ,the non-glassstrands of the bands extending helically in a direction opposite to thatin which a given vglass retaining-strand'extends. 'In other words, d

bands il extends crosswise oi all of the strands Il and 20 of therighthand helical band l1.

The number ofcoatings placed over the conducting-corel i0 will 'varywith service vrequirements, but preferably the covering will includeseveral layers of textile material, which material is preferablyimpregnated with asphaltum, coal tar or other suitable preservativematerial.

By virture of the construction set forth in which the covering materialis braided with interlaced oppositely-inclined helical groups of strandsand in which certain of the groups of strands include lglass strands,the breakdown and unsightly iestooning of the covering is guardedagainst over long periods of time and without materially adding to thecost oi' the-weatherproof conductor.

The invention may b carried out in other specinc vways than those hereinset forth without departing from the spirit and essentialcharacteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are,therefore, to be considered in all re-v spects as illustrative and notrestrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalencyrange oi the appended claim are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

A weatherproof outdoor overhead-suspension `electric wire comprising: acore of conducting material; and a covering surrounding the said coreand including, a set of right-hand helically-inclined bands of strandsextending generally parallel helically around the said core in arighthand direction, and a, set of left-hand-helicallyinclined bands ofstrands extending generally parallel helically around the said core in aleithand direction; and each of said bands including a minority oistrands, each of which is dominantly of glass, and a majority ofstrands, each of which is dominantly oi' cotton or the like organictextile material, and each or said bands being of tape-like form withits strands laterally abutting one another; and the bands ofeach of saidsets oi bands repeatedly extending over and under the bands of the otherof said sets of strands. and the said minority strands of each of saidsets of bands extending over and retaining the said ma- Jority strandsof the other of said sets or bands.

RICHARD W.' SHOEMAKER.

